Are they growth marks?

As your son is 15, I assume he has been growing rapidly over the last couple of years, which would explain why the stretch marks have ..

Question

My son developed a red line (three inches long) on his shoulder about a year ago.

It looks like a friction burn, but it is under the surface of the skin. It has never faded.

Recently he has developed another two next to the original line, and about five smaller lines across his chest (half to one inch).

Someone told me that they could be growth marks. Is there such a thing? Apart from these strange marks, he is very healthy.

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Answer

From your description the 'lines' you have noticed on your son's shoulder and chest are probably striae (the medical term for stretch marks).

Although we tend to associate stretch marks with pregnancy, they can appear when there is rapid stretching of the skin from a number of different causes including the growth spurt that occurs as part of puberty.

As your son is 15, I assume he has been growing rapidly over the last couple of years, which would explain why the stretch marks have developed during this time.

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Striae can be associated with other medical disorders including diabetes and Cushing's syndrome but you say that your son is generally fit and well so it is very likely that his stretch marks are due to puberty and not to any underlying medical problem.

As with any stretch marks, the ones that appear during puberty will gradually become paler and less noticeable as time goes by.

There is no treatment that can prevent them appearing and although there are lots of creams and lotions that claim to help fade them, there is no good evidence to suggest they are effective.

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